The New York Human Rights Watch International Film Festival presents a documentary entitled See, Listen, Speak: Ngarrindjeri’s Being Heard (Nukkan.Kungun.Yunnan) to be screened on June 18 and 19.

This 22 minutes documentary produced in 2009 is one of the thirty films shortlisted by the festival selection jury. Nukkan.Kungun.Yunnan was entirely filmed by young Australian aborigines, under the guidance of director Carl Kudell.

The story takes place at the Murray Darling basin, South-East Australia, in the Ngarrindjeri community. Younger and older generations are attempting to alert the international community on the disastrous consequences of climate change and its impacts on the environment. The rural areas where this Aboriginal community lives are struck with a serious drought that has been raging in this part of Australia for years. The water level in the rivers and lakes has become so low that the populations have simply lost one of their main sources of food supply. The elders also point to their concerns regarding the survival of their ancestral culture, language, traditions and knowledge, which are deeply tied to their land and environment.

For more information on the film and the issues it raises, you may also refer to an article published in Le Monde on May 26. (French)

Please visit this page for the full program of the 21st New York Human Rights Watch International Film Festival. NYC, June 18 to June 24, 2010.